Hernandez moved to new unit in jail

DARTMOUTH, Mass., July 2 (UPI) -- Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez has been a model inmate since his incarceration in a Massachusetts jail, officials said.

Hernandez, 23, has been charged with the June 17 murder of Odin Lloyd, 27, a longtime friend, whose body was dumped in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass.

Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson said Hernandez was moved Monday from a medical unit at the county jail to a unit where he can see other inmates, but only through the window of his cell, The (Fall River) Herald News reported. Inmates in the unit are allowed out for recreation one at a time.

Officials will review Hernandez' status in a week. Hodgson said Hernandez has behaved well in jail.

"It's a big shift in lifestyle, going from a 7,100-square-foot home to a 7-by-10-foot cell," Hodgson told the Boston Herald. "This is a guy who is used to walking into a stadium and having thousands of people cheering his name. Now, he's just another number, in another uniform. We want to make sure we're paying attention to that."

Corrections officers at the jail have examined and photographed Hernandez's tattoos to determine whether he has gang ties, the Herald said. Hodgson said Hernandez denies gang membership.

Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter has asked for the public's help in locating a piece of evidence -- the side mirror of a 2013 Nissan Altima. In a news release, Sutter said the mirror might be in a wooded area between Fayston Street in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood, where Lloyd lived, to Ronald C. Meyer Drive in North Attleborough where Hernandez lives.

Hernandez is scheduled to appear in court July 24 for a probable cause hearing.

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